Editing Down with Love

{{short description|2003 film by Peyton Reed}}
{{for-multi|the song|Down with Love (song)|the Taiwanese TV series|Down with Love (TV series)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Down with Love
| image          = Down with Love.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Peyton Reed]]
| screenplay     = {{Plainlist|
* Eve Ahlert
* Dennis Drake
}}
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Dan Jinks]]
* [[Bruce Cohen]]
}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Renée Zellweger]]
* [[Ewan McGregor]]
* [[David Hyde Pierce]]
* [[Sarah Paulson]]
* [[Tony Randall]]
}}
| cinematography = [[Jeff Cronenweth]]
| editing        = Larry Bock
| music          = [[Marc Shaiman]]
| studio         = {{plainlist|
* [[Fox 2000 Pictures]]<ref name=bfi>{{cite web |title=Down with Love (2003) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b87f55a36 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=January 3, 2021 |archive-date=January 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117032632/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b87f55a36}}</ref>
* [[Regency Enterprises]]<ref name=bfi/>
* Mediastream III<ref name=bfi/>
* Jinks/Cohen Company<ref name=bfi/>
}}
| distributor    = [[20th Century Fox]]
| released       = {{Film date|2003|5|9|New York City|2003|5|16|United States|2003|12|25|Germany}}
| runtime        = 102 minutes
| country        = {{plainlist|
* United States<ref name=bfi/>
* Germany<ref name=bfi/>
}}
| language       = English
| budget         = $35 million<ref name="nyt-summer">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/movies/summer-movies-looking-for-the-look-of-love.html|title=SUMMER MOVIES; Looking For the Look Of 'Love'|last=Lyman|first=Rick|date=May 11, 2003|access-date=May 7, 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|archive-date=May 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507165140/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/movies/summer-movies-looking-for-the-look-of-love.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| gross          = $39.5 million<ref name="Mojo">{{cite web |title=Down with Love |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=downwithlove.htm |access-date=October 3, 2010 |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607123644/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=downwithlove.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

'''''Down with Love''''' is a 2003 [[romantic comedy]] film directed by [[Peyton Reed]]. It stars [[Renée Zellweger]] and [[Ewan McGregor]] and is a [[pastiche]] of the early-1960s American "no-sex sex comedies",<ref name="TimeMay19">{{cite magazine |last=Corliss |first=Richard |title=That Old Feeling, Doris Day, Rock All Night |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=May 19, 2003 |url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,453041,00.html |authorlink=Richard Corliss |access-date=October 29, 2017 |archive-date=July 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715051338/http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,453041,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> such as ''[[Pillow Talk (film)|Pillow Talk]]'' and ''[[Lover Come Back (1961 film)|Lover Come Back]]'' (both starring [[Rock Hudson]], [[Doris Day]], and [[Tony Randall]]) and the "myriad spawn"<ref name="TimeMay11">{{cite magazine |last=Corliss |first=Richard |title=I Hear America Smirking |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=May 11, 2003 |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,450980,00.html |authorlink=Richard Corliss |access-date=October 29, 2017 |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416114423/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,450980,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> of derivative films that followed; ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' film critic [[Richard Corliss]] wrote that ''Down with Love'' "is so clogged with specific references to a half-dozen Rock-and-Doris-type comedies that it serves as definitive distillation of the genre."<ref name="TimeMay19"/> Randall himself plays a small role in ''Down with Love'', "bestowing his sly, patriarchal blessing"<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news |last=Scott |first=A. O. |authorlink=A. O. Scott |date=May 9, 2003 |title=Film Review; Trading Barbs, Like Doris And Rock |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9506E3D6163FF93AA35756C0A9659C8B63%3F&pagewanted=all |access-date=December 28, 2017 |archive-date=October 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029173445/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9506E3D6163FF93AA35756C0A9659C8B63%3F&pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> on the film, which also stars [[David Hyde Pierce]] (in the neurotic best friend role often played by Randall or [[Gig Young]]), [[Sarah Paulson]], [[Rachel Dratch]], [[Jeri Ryan]], and [[Jack Plotnick]], who spoofs the kind of role Chet Stratton played in ''Lover Come Back''.

Typical of the genre, the film tells the story of a woman who advocates female independence in combat with a [[lothario]]; the plot reflects the attitudes and behaviour of the early pre-[[sexual revolution]] 1960s but has an [[anachronism|anachronistic]] conclusion driven by more modern, [[post-feminism|post-feminist]] ideas and attitudes. Though the film received a mixed critical response at the time of release and underperformed at the box office, it has since undergone a critical reappraisal and grown a [[cult following]] for its subversion of rom-com conventions.<ref name="Loayza" />

==Plot==
<!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 to 700 words. -->
In 1962, aspiring author Barbara Novak arrives in New York to promote her book, ''Down with Love'', to Banner House publishing. It is about freeing women from love, enjoying sex without commitment, and replacing the need for a man with things such as chocolate. Barbara believes that her rules will help boost women in the workplace and the world in general.

When Banner House's male executives do not appreciate the book, Vikki Hiller, Barbara's editor, suggests that Barbara meet with Catcher Block—a successful writer for ''Know'' magazine—to help promote the book. However, Catcher repeatedly avoids meeting Barbara until, fed up, she insults him. Catcher's boss and best friend, Peter MacMannus, and Vikki develop a mutual attraction, but neither is brave enough to express their feelings. Peter feels overshadowed by Catcher's strong personality, and Vikki wants to see strength in her lover, even assuming Peter must be [[Homosexuality|gay]].

Barbara and Vikki persuade [[Judy Garland]] to sing "[[Down with Love (song)|Down with Love]]" on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' to promote the book. Sales skyrocket, as women around the world rebel against their men; Catcher now wants to meet Barbara but ''she'' rejects ''him''. The breaking point comes as Barbara appears on a national TV show and discusses a chapter from her book—"The Worst Kind of Man"—and cites Catcher Block as the perfect example, causing the women he dates to reject him.

Catcher schemes to prove that Barbara really wants love and marriage like every other woman. He poses as Major Zip Martin, an attentive astronaut with a Southern accent. Barbara becomes infatuated with a man who seems unaware of her celebrity, in contrast to the men who now avoid her since her book was published. As "Zip" takes her to fashionable New York locations, he maintains sexual tension by feigning naiveté and a desire to remain chaste until he is "ready" for a physical relationship. His plan becomes complicated after he starts falling for her.

When Barbara encounters Catcher/Zip at a party, which nearly exposes his true identity, he decides to take things to the next level. He says that Catcher Block wants to interview him for an exposé on the [[NASA]] space program and asks her to be there. At his apartment, he sets everything up to record her saying that she loves him. As they are about to have sex, one of his lovers, Gwendolyn, walks in. Not knowing who Barbara is, she exposes Catcher's identity, forcing him to confess to Barbara.

Barbara then reveals that she is actually Nancy Brown, one of Catcher's many former secretaries, who had fallen in love with him while working at ''Know''. She had turned down a date with him, refusing to be another fling. She wanted to be different from the other women he knew, and make him fall in love with her. Catcher proclaims that he wants to marry her, but Gwendolyn, having overheard Barbara Novak's name, thanks her for what she has done for womankind.

Barbara realizes that she does not want love or Catcher, as she has become a real "down with love" girl. Vikki and Peter's relationship also changes when she insults him for helping Catcher. Peter says that he is like any other man, and takes Vikki to Catcher's apartment to have sex with her.

Days later, Catcher is depressed and has failed to win back Barbara. Even his exposé, which he wrote on how falling in love with her made him a better man, is ruined now that Barbara has told her story in her own magazine, ''Now''. Catcher goes to ''Now'' on the pretense of a job interview. He tells Barbara how much she has changed him and wishes there could be a middle ground for them, somewhere between her confident blonde persona and her original brunette self. After he leaves her office, she surprises him on the elevator, showing him a bright-red hair style. She has found the middle ground and wants to be with him. They elope to Las Vegas, inspiring Vikki and Peter to also get married. Barbara and Catcher's marriage results in a new book aimed at ending the battle of the sexes.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Renée Zellweger]] as Barbara Novak
* [[Ewan McGregor]] as Catcher Block
* [[Sarah Paulson]] as Vikki Hiller
* [[David Hyde Pierce]] as Peter MacMannus
* [[Rachel Dratch]] as Gladys
* [[Jack Plotnick]] as Maurice
* [[Tony Randall]] as Theodore Banner
* [[John Aylward]] as E.G.
* [[Warren Munson]] as C.B.
* [[Matt Ross (actor)|Matt Ross]] as J.B.
* [[Michael Ensign]] as J.R.
* [[Timothy Omundson]] as R.J.
* [[Jeri Ryan]] as Gwendolyn
* [[Ivana Miličević]] as Yvette
* [[Melissa George]] as Elkie
* [[Dorie Barton]] as Sally
* [[Chris Parnell]] as TV Emcee
}}

==Style==
The sets, [[costume]]s, [[cinematography]], [[film editing|editing]], [[film score|score]], opening credits, and [[visual effects]] (including [[Split screen (filmmaking)|split-screen]] shots during phone calls heavily laced with [[double entendres]] between the two leads), echo the style of Hollywood sex comedies from 1959 to 1964 (from ''[[Pillow Talk (film)|Pillow Talk]]'' to ''[[Sex and the Single Girl (film)|Sex and the Single Girl]]'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://spectrumculture.com/2013/01/06/remakeremodel-pillow-talk-1959-vs-down-with-love-2003/ |last=Hassinnia |first=Tim |title=Remake/Remodel: Pillow Talk (1959) vs. Down with Love (2003) |date=January 6, 2013 |website=Spectrum Culture |access-date=March 5, 2023 |archive-date=October 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002080447/http://spectrumculture.com/2013/01/06/remakeremodel-pillow-talk-1959-vs-down-with-love-2003/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="SDSA">{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Mark |title=Down with Love |url=https://www.setdecorators.org/?name=DOWN-WITH-LOVE&art=down-with-love |website=Set Decorators Society of America |access-date=11 May 2023 |date=August 15, 2004 |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511045338/https://www.setdecorators.org/?name=DOWN-WITH-LOVE&art=down-with-love |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[New York City]] skyline of 1962 was digitally recreated for backdrops.<ref name="Loayza" /> A [[Chroma key|greenscreen]] technique was used to simulate unconvincing 1960s [[rear projection]] using restored street footage from the late 1950s and early 1960s. In accordance with the film's style, the 1950s [[20th Century Fox]] logo with the [[CinemaScope]] logo, a wide-screen process introduced in the 1950s, developed and owned by 20th Century Fox, was utilized with the addition of the byline for News Corporation and the 1998 version of the fanfare, composed by [[Alfred Newman (composer)|Alfred Newman]].<ref name="Ebert" /><ref name="Logo">{{cite web |title=20th Century Fox / Regency Enterprises (Down with Love) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-B7RYJuvog |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=11 May 2023 |date=2020-12-24 |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511051318/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-B7RYJuvog |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Regency Enterprises]] logo is in pink, and contains a saxophone jazz rendition of its theme.<ref name="Logo" />

==Reception==
===Box office===
''Down with Love'' was chosen as "the perfect film" to open the second [[Tribeca Film Festival]], where it made its premiere.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hernandez |first=Eugene |url=http://www.indiewire.com/2003/03/down-with-love-to-kick-off-second-tribeca-fest-79870/ |title=''Down with Love'' to Kick-Off Second Tribeca Fest |date=March 17, 2003 |website=[[IndieWire]] |access-date=July 18, 2017 |archive-date=May 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515044305/http://www.indiewire.com/2003/03/down-with-love-to-kick-off-second-tribeca-fest-79870/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The film opened first in New York, and was released countrywide a week later on May 16, 2003. The film was released as counter programming against ''[[The Matrix Reloaded]]''.<ref name="nyt-summer"/> Though the film was highly anticipated,<ref>{{cite news |title=Why we can't wait to see ''Down With Love'' |url=https://ew.com/article/2003/01/24/why-we-cant-wait-see-down-love/ |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=EW.com |date=January 24, 2003 |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511045333/https://ew.com/article/2003/01/24/why-we-cant-wait-see-down-love/ |url-status=live }}</ref> it performed far below box office expectations in comparison with other rom-coms released in the same year, such as ''[[How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days]]'' and ''[[Something's Gotta Give (film)|Something's Gotta Give]]'', both of which grossed over $100 million.<ref name="Loayza" /><ref name="BombReport">{{cite web |title=Down with Love |url=https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2003-2/down-with-love/ |website=Bomb Report |access-date=11 May 2023 |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511045339/https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2003-2/down-with-love/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Down with Love'' ultimately made just $39.5 million worldwide on a $35 million budget.<ref name="Mojo"/>

===Critical response===
At the time of its release, ''Down With Love'' received extremely varying reviews. ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' critic [[Roger Ebert]] spoke of the film fairly positively, saying parts were "fun" and describing Zellweger's speech at the end as "a torrent of words [pouring] out from her character's innermost soul".<ref name=Ebert>{{cite web |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/down-with-love-2003 |title=Down with Love |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=May 16, 2003 |website=RogerEbert.com |access-date=July 3, 2017 |archive-date=May 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504121103/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/down-with-love-2003 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[A. O. Scott]] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised director "Reed's buoyant homage", Zellweger's Doris Day-like ability to "swivel engagingly between goofiness and sex appeal", McGregor's Sinatra-like "wiry, wolfish energy" and screenwriters Ahlert's and Drake's "canny cocktail of period vernacular and deliberately labored double entendres", finding the movie "intelligent and amusing" with "a glorious, hectic artificiality". But he questioned "the point of the exercise" compared with [[Todd Haynes]]' ''[[Far from Heaven]]'', which "plunged into the subtext of those old movies", whereas ''Down with Love'', being an "updating and a critique", "snips that subtext away", making it "less sophisticated than what it imitates".<ref name="NYTimes"/>

Conversely, ''[[The San Francisco Chronicle]]''{{'s}} [[Mick LaSalle]] wrote, "''Down With Love'' is superior to ''Far From Heaven''", which "seems naive in comparison" because "''Down with Love'' is a very smart, very shrewd movie, and the smartest, shrewdest thing about it is the way it masquerades as just a fluffy comedy, a diversion, a trifle. Hardly a trifle, ''Down With Love'' distills 40 years of sexual politics into 100 minutes, using the romantic-comedy conventions of an earlier time to comment on the governing social assumptions of yesterday—and today, as well... The brilliance of ''Down With Love'' is that it slyly reminds us that our modern perspective, like every 'modern perspective' that preceded it, is doomed to obsolescence and isn't some final stage of enlightened social thought."<ref>{{cite news |last=LaSalle |first=Mick |title=Up with 'Down' / Behind retro-fluff look is a smart view of sex, American style |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=May 16, 2003 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Up-with-Down-Behind-retro-fluff-look-is-a-2647963.php |authorlink=Mick LaSalle |access-date=October 29, 2017 |archive-date=December 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209104749/http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Up-with-Down-Behind-retro-fluff-look-is-a-2647963.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

Opposing opinions occurred even at the same newspaper, as with ''[[The New York Observer]]'', where [[Rex Reed]]'s review was headlined "Down With Down With Love!"<ref>{{cite news |last=Reed |first=Rex |author-link=Rex Reed |title=Down With Down With Love! |url=https://observer.com/2003/05/down-with-down-with-love/ |work=[[The New York Observer]] |date=May 19, 2003 |access-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511045338/https://observer.com/2003/05/down-with-down-with-love/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but [[Andrew Sarris]]'s headline countered with "It's Affectionate and Smart, And I'm Down With Love".<ref>{{cite news |last=Sarris |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Sarris |title=It's Affectionate and Smart, And I'm Down With Love |work=The New York Observer |date=May 26, 2003 |url=http://observer.com/2003/05/its-affectionate-and-smart-and-im-down-with-love/ |access-date=May 20, 2017 |archive-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803213221/http://observer.com/2003/05/its-affectionate-and-smart-and-im-down-with-love/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Richard Corliss]] of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' admired Orlandi's costumes and Laws' design for their "giddily precise exaggeration" and wrote that the script "has a gentle heart to humanize its sharp sitcom wit," advising his readers to "stay for the movie's denouement: a two-minute speech that wraps up the plot like Christmas ribbons around a time bomb". But he found the film to be "miscast at the top" and "conflicted about its subject—it both derides and adores what it means to parody" and that director "Reed often uses a gong where chimes would do." Corliss concludes: "As you see, we too are conflicted about this film. We want to love it, but like a Rock Hudson rake, we keep finding fault in its allure. We want to hate it, but like Doris Day, we finally can't say no".<ref name="TimeMay11"/>

In the years after its release, [[Nathan Rabin]], [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Rosenbaum |first=Jonathan |date=January 22, 2022 |title=Down With Love (2003) |url=https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2009/10/down-with-love-2003/ |access-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803213223/https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2009/10/down-with-love-2003/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Richard Brody]] have been among the critics and film theorists that have continued to write in praise of the film.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Brody |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Brody |date=December 29, 2009 |title=Down With Love |url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/down-with-love |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |access-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803220336/http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/down-with-love |url-status=live }}</ref> Rabin wrote that Chicago critics by and large embraced ''Down With Love'', noting: "It got two thumbs up from [[Ebert & Roeper]] and was No. 2 on Rosenbaum’s Top 10 list in the [[Chicago Reader]]."<ref>{{cite web |last=Rabin |first=Nathan |author-link=Nathan Rabin |title=Ribald Retro Case File #146: 'Down With Love' My Year Of Flops |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=September 16, 2009 |url=http://www.avclub.com/article/ribald-retro-case-file-146-idown-with-lovei-32944 |access-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803212203/http://www.avclub.com/article/ribald-retro-case-file-146-idown-with-lovei-32944 |url-status=live }}</ref> Rosenbaum called it a "masterpiece" and wrote, "If a more interesting and entertaining Hollywood movie than ''Down with Love'' has come along this year, I've missed it".<ref>{{cite news |last=Rosenbaum |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Rosenbaum |title=What's Past Is More Than Prologue |work=[[Chicago Reader]] |date=July 10, 2003 |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/whats-past-is-more-than-prologue/Content?oid=912581 |access-date=October 29, 2017 |archive-date=August 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812095742/https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/whats-past-is-more-than-prologue/Content?oid=912581 |url-status=live }}</ref>

''Down with Love'' holds a 60% approval rating at [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on reviews from 179 critics, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The site's consensus states: "Looks great, but Zellweger and McGregor have no chemistry together, and the self-satisfied, knowing tone grates".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/down_with_love/ |title=Down with Love (2003) |publisher=[[Fandango Media]] |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=March 29, 2021 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308041824/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/down_with_love |url-status=live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a score of 52 out of 100 based on 39 critics' reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/down-with-love|title=Down with Love Reviews|website=[[Metacritic]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]|access-date=March 29, 2021|archive-date=September 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924231357/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/down-with-love|url-status=live}}</ref>

In August 2018, [[Vanity Fair (magazine)|''Vanity Fair'']] put ''Down With Love'' at Number 13 on their list of the top "25 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time".<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/08/best-romantic-comedies-list|title=The 25 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time|magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|access-date=2018-12-01|language=en|archive-date=August 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810181910/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/08/best-romantic-comedies-list|url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2017, Jonathan Rosenbaum named ''Down With Love'' one of his "25 Favorite Films of the 21st Century (so far)".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2017/06/my-25-favorite-films-of-this-millennium-so-far/|title=My 25 Favorite Films of the 21st Century (so far)|website=www.jonathanrosenbaum.net|date=2021-11-09|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-01|archive-date=December 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201093132/http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2017/06/my-25-favorite-films-of-this-millennium-so-far/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2023, Beatrice Loayza of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote of the film’s cult following, saying "its meta-referential charms" have been embraced by a "younger generation…that better understands the role-playing nature of gender and romantic courtship…The film mocks, but it also transports with its eye-candy visuals and coy performances, reminding us that a suspension of reason is required to perform gender, to be sucked into a rom-com and, even, to fall in love."<ref name="Loayza">{{cite news |first1=Beatrice |last1=Loayza |title='Down With Love' 20 Years Later: Celebrating the Phoniness of Rom-Coms |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/movies/down-with-love-rom-coms.html |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 9, 2023 |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511045336/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/movies/down-with-love-rom-coms.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Music==
The film's title comes from the song "[[Down with Love (song)|Down with Love]]" as sung by [[Judy Garland]], who is seen singing it on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' in one scene.<ref name="Pgh">{{cite news |last1=Paris |first1=Barry |title='Down with Love' is Up with Camp |url=http://old.post-gazette.com/movies/20030516love0516fnp2.asp |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=May 16, 2023 |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511050415/http://old.post-gazette.com/movies/20030516love0516fnp2.asp |url-status=live }}</ref>

The song "Here's to Love" sung by Zellweger and McGregor during the [[closing credits]] (and in its entirety on the DVD release as a special feature) was a last-minute addition to the film.<ref>{{cite video|title=Down with Love |contribution="Here's to Love" |medium=DVD |date=October 7, 2003 |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Songwriters [[Marc Shaiman]] and [[Scott Wittman]] appear in the number as the bartender and the pianist. According to the DVD commentary, it was added at the suggestion of McGregor, who pointed out the opportunity the filmmakers had to unite the stars of two recently popular musical films (his ''[[Moulin Rouge!]]'' and Zellweger's ''[[Chicago (2002 film)|Chicago]]'').<ref>{{cite video|title=Down with Love |contribution=[[Audio commentary]] (Peyton Reed) |medium=DVD |date=October 7, 2003 |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>

The songs "[[Kissing a Fool (song)|Kissing a Fool]]" and "[[For Once in My Life]]", sung by [[Michael Bublé]], previously appeared on Bublé's [[Michael Bublé (album)|2003 self-titled album]].

==Track listing==
{{track listing
| extra_column     = Performer(s)
| total_length     = 37:52
| title1           = [[Down with Love (song)|Down with Love]]
| writer1          = [[Edgar Yipsel Harburg]]; [[Harold Arlen]]
| extra1           = [[Michael Bublé]] and [[Holly Palmer]]
| length1          = 2:31
| title2           = Barbara Arrives
| writer2          = [[Marc Shaiman]]
| extra2           = Marc Shaiman
| length2          = 2:08
| title3           = [[Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)]]
| writer3          = [[Bart Howard]]
| extra3            = [[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Count Basie]] and His Orchestra
| length3          = 2:30
| title4           = [[One Mint Julep]]
| writer4          = [[Rudy Toombs]]
| extra4           = [[Xavier Cugat]] and His Orchestra
| length4          = 3:06
| title5           = [[For Once in My Life]]
| writer5          = [[Ron Miller (songwriter)|Ron Miller]]; Orlando Murden
| extra5           = [[Michael Bublé]]
| length5          = 2:33
| title6           = Girls Night Out
| writer6          = Marc Shaiman
| extra6           = Marc Shaiman
| length6          = 1:00
| title7           = Everyday Is a Holiday (With You)
| writer7          = [[Esthero|Jenny-Bea Englishman]]; [[Sean Lennon]]
| extra7           = [[Esthero]]
| length7          = 2:59
| title8           = [[Kissing a Fool (song)|Kissing a Fool]]
| writer8          = [[George Michael]]
| extra8           = Michael Bublé
| length8          = 4:35
| title9           = Barbara Meets Zip
| writer9          = Marc Shaiman
| extra9           = Marc Shaiman
| length9          = 4:08
| title10          = Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)
| writer10         = Bart Howard
| extra10          = [[Astrud Gilberto]]
| length10         = 2:20
| title11          = Love in Three Acts
| writer11         = Marc Shaiman
| extra11          = Marc Shaiman
| length11         = 6:52
| title12          = Here's to Love
| writer12         = Marc Shaiman; [[Scott Wittman]]
| extra12          = [[Renée Zellweger]] and [[Ewan McGregor]]
| length12         = 3:10
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}

{{Peyton Reed}}

[[Category:2003 films]]
[[Category:2003 romantic comedy films]]
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